CM Fadnavis to decide on govt colony issue

Nagpur: Maharashtra Public Works Department (PWD) minister Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday assured that a meeting will be held within 15 days to discuss the redevelopment of the Bandra government colony, which will cost state Rs 4,000 crore. Subsequently, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will take a policy decision on the issue.

Shiv Sena MLA Anil Parab raised the issue of redevelopment of government colony in the Legislative Council by calling attention motion. Mr Parab said, “The government servants have been living in the colony since last 30-40 years. In order to carry redevelopment work the state has offered few tenements at Mahul, but the government employees fear that they won't get flats in the same colony after the work is completed. Due to which they have been living in these dilapidated buildings. The state government should immediately take necessary steps to avoid any untoward incident.”

Further, Mr Parab demanded, “State should give ownership of these flats to the its employees as they are ready to pay some amount for the redevelopment. Also, once the government gives the proposal of redevelopment , they will shift to the transit camps.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Bhai Girkar supported the demand of Mr Parab and said, “Government is giving homes to slum dwellers free of cost, so they should offer homes on ownership basis to these government employees.”

While replying to the motion, PWD minister Chandrakant Patil said, “The government is thinking about the proposal of Bandra government colony redevelopment. The project will cost Rs 4,000 crore as we have also planned to shift Bombay High Court at Bandra for which plots have been identified. And we are also planning to build bungalows for the Judges.”

Mr Parab further added that if minister Mr Patil assures to give homes on ownership basis, he is ready to take responsibility of shifting the current residents of colony to Mahul. Subsequently, Mr Patil said that, “Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will conduct a meeting on the issue within 15 days and take the policy decision.”